The results of an experimental study of breakdown of a cone-to-plane gap, filled with nitrogen at a pressure of 12.5–400 kPa at a negative polarity, and its numerical simulation by the XOOPIC code are presented. The formation of a diffuse discharge is observed within the entire range of pressures. At the nitrogen pressures of up 200 kPa, a large-diameter streamer is formed in the gap. At higher pressure, two streamers of smaller diameters are observed to form. At low nitrogen pressures, the streamer starts forming at a certain distance from the cathode. The numerical simulation demonstrates that under these conditions the electrons rapidly leave the near-cathode region due to the high reduced electric field strength. The excitation of nitrogen molecules is taken into account in the simulation. Using the R391/394 ratio of the emission intensities from the bands of the N2+ molecular ion and the N2 molecule, the dynamics of the electron temperature Te and the reduced electric field strength E/p in the plasma are determined. The streamer velocity is determined from the propagation velocity of the R391/394 maximum along the gap. The results are compared with the numerical simulation results.
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Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 2, pp. 136–142, February, 2021.
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Beloplotov, D.V., Grishkov, A.A., Sorokin, D.A. et al. Experimental Study and Numerical Simulation of Breakdown of a Gap with a Sharply Inhomogeneous Electric Field Distribution. Russ Phys J 64, 340–347 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11182-021-02334-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11182-021-02334-1